Resumen de Immersed in Things of the Body: Humor and Meaning in an "Annunciation" by Filippo Lippi
The writer examines the painting of the Annunciation attributed to the Florentine artist Filippo Lippi (Galleria Nazionale, Rome). He notes that the painting has two unusual additions: two kneeling donors, and two figures in the background on a flight of stairs. He hypothesizes that the two additional figures represent a parodic inversion of the main action, not only introducing a comic subtext into the painting, but also expanding on the work's meaning by referencing a variety of theological issues associated with the Incarnation of Christ. These issues are shown to include the sinfulness of man, the humanity of Christ, and the joyous quality of the Incarnation itself. Finally, the writer constructs a relationship between the meaning of the background figures and the location and poses of the donor portraits, arguing that Lippi may have reacted, in a comic but meaningful way, to his patrons' unusual request to appear in this narrative altarpiece.
